Steve Colwell, I had to use the nose gear gas strut extension once and I almost had the disaster we all want to avoid.  I have been replacing my old (1993+/-) hyd hoses progressively and on a local flight after replacing a main gear upside hose the hose blew out of the fitting, blowing out all the fluid.  The mains fell into down and locked but not the nose gear did not.  I was panicky for a while, but then continued to slow and the nose gear locked (green light) below 80 knots.  I had not replaced the gas strut for several years, doing periodic alternate gear down tests every month or two.  Although I wouldn’t say it is necessary to change the gas strut every annual, it is certainly something to keep a close eye on and test regularly.

 

Attaching the new gas strut is no problem.  Just detach the nose strut from the scissors and maneuver the scissors as necessary to attach the gas strut.  The micro switch attachment must be loosened and moved out of the way to  enable the scissors to be moved to attach the gas strut.  It takes not much muscle power to push the scissors/gas strut pressure the short distance to reattach the nose strut.   The most difficult part for me was getting the castelated (sp) nut on the bolt at the top end of the gas strut in the nose gear tunnel.  I finally got the nut on but simply could not get the cotter pin in place.  I ended up using safety wire for that nut.  I am assuming the nose gear and gas strut arrangement are similar for the IV’s and the 320’s.

 

As for the blown hydraulic hose, I just forgot that it is a left hand thread inside the hose fitting.  I worked and worked to screw that hose in there and when I finally (duh) realized it was a left hand thread I had damaged the hose end enough to where it was not fitted properly, causing it to fail at the upside pressure.

 

George Shattuck

LNC2

Greensboro, GA